At the Start
by DustieRhoades
Summary: Kaidan Alenko and Kasumi Goto get to know one another better. Post Citadel party where a non-canon Kasumi has accepted Shepard's offer to start a relationship. Mini epilogue between Kaidan & Shepard. Prompt inspired. All characters owned by BioWare. Cover by nix-shiva (tumblr) and gifted to me!
1. At the Start

A/N: A prompt inspired fic from a friend on tumblr who asked for something where Kaidan & Kasumi were getting to know one another better. I really love how broken all of these characters are and letting them find healing through one another. Enjoy!

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"He called me Little Bird."

Kaidan was silent.

The air eddied around them. Sky cars silently passed far below, keeping to lanes that weren't really there. A pigeon cooed nearby. There was almost no noise up here, just a soft whistle where the metal struts were welded too close together.

Her heels swung freely over the edge. There had been a time when the height would have brought back rough memories, sad ones. She had avoided the wide open spaces far above the world for a very long time after it happened.

Heavy boots scraped the ground next to her.

"You miss him still."

"Yes."

There is was. The thing she thought she wasn't supposed to say now.

"It's ok, you know."

She didn't think that she needed to hear that from someone else. The same thought had been rattling around in her head for a very long time but she never really believed it.

Squinting against the light of the sun, she relished the warmth on her face.

"Kasumi?"

Looking up at him she smiled from the confines of her hood, "I know, and thank you."

Taking her reply as an invitation, Kaidan used the railing in front of them to lower himself down next to her. He grunted a bit as he bent his large frame, knees popping with the effort.

"That didn't seem so far down at first," he chuckled.

"It's a little bit closer for me," she agreed.

He was near enough that she could feel a slight buzz coming off of him. It wasn't very strong, at least not to her, but it was unmistakably there and most definitely his. Originally she thought that she'd feel uncomfortable around him, perhaps shy, but she was finding, to her ultimate surprise, that he felt more home-like than she would have anticipated. His biotics felt familiar, like Io's, and perhaps that was why his presence wasn't unnerving. Being alone for so long, it was somewhat strange to not want to shy away from other people.

"So why are we up here?" he asked as he peered out over the railing.

"It's quiet. I like it. I used to come here a lot," she stated and added, "There's freedom in being up high."

"Good place for thinking then."

"Or talking, yes."

She started to hum, tracing patterns in the air.

"Do you sing?"

"Of course not!" She shot him a look over her shoulder, "Do you?"

There was a small smile quirking at the edge of his mouth, "Not really."

It wasn't easy, trying to navigate this conversation. It was one that was Important, she knew. They knew each other, yet didn't, really. Their connection was via someone else, someone that they both loved. What she knew of him was what Io had told her, after Horizon, and what she had observed of him once she was back on the Citadel. The events of the party were still fresh in her mind. The way that she had been welcomed by both of them had been staggering. Especially after the long wait.

"Do you do anything artistic?"

"If you think that there's no art to being a thie-"

He shook his head, seemingly amused by her immediate defense, "No. I mean, since you don't sing, do you paint or sculpt or..." the list trailed from him and then he stopped.

"I used to dance."

"Used to? Why don't you anymore?"

The breath caught in her throat and then a sigh eked its way out. There was a time when she wouldn't have even admitted it because of all of the feelings connected. Her telling him was evidence enough that times were changing.

Rubbing her knee she said, "I used to, before I left Earth. I stopped when I was about 14. I –"

He moved a little bit closer to her and she realized that she had been talking very quietly.

"I stopped because it was part of my old life."

"Your 'old life'?" he questioned.

"Yes. The one I had before I left Japan."

"What happened?"

Turning to him, she pulled her hood down, "Not now? Ok? I just, haven't thought of that in a really long time. But I did dance. Ballet, actually, and I loved it."

Their eyes met and he stared for a long time, appraising her. Then he turned to look back out at the Citadel stretching before them.

"I'd love to see you dance sometime," he murmured and smiled.

"Did you want to see a giraffe throw a biotiball?"

"What?!"

"I haven't danced in years. It would be that awkward."

He burst out laughing, his shoulders shaking with the effort.

"I'd hardly call you a giraffe," he bumped her shoulder with his own and she couldn't help but smile.

"It's a very apropos description though."

"I've seen you move, you are most definitely not awkward."

"So, you've been watching me?"

He shifted a bit and wouldn't look at her, "Maybe."

"It's ok. I watch you too," her feet swung back and forth, back and forth, "I watch you and I like it."

"When? The only time you've been around is at the party."

"Is that so?" She left it at that and leaned out over the railing.

When she pulled back she looked over at him. He was staring at her with his mouth open.

"You look like a fish," giggling she pushed his mouth closed with one gloved finger.

"But… you only got back to the Citadel the night of the party."

"Did I?"

"How long have you been here?"

Shrugging, she said, "Long enough to see you all make fools of yourselves by letting a clone steal the Normandy."

"Ooh, that's a low blow!"

"It's the truth."

In fact, she had been watching them and him specifically, for about a week prior to the incident with the clone. It had been an attempt to get to know him better. A cheat, she knew, since he had no idea that she was there. Her decision had been made regarding Shepard's offer, but in accepting that she was also accepting that this man was to become a part of her life as well. He was different than Keiji in so many ways. Alliance, first and foremost. Completely above board secondly. Kaidan Alenko did not do shady dealings of any sort. She wondered absently if he had ever stolen anything in his life.

"I was about to help Shep out by hacking the door at the car lot when you showed up."

"Were you now?"

"I was. But then you walked up and had that swagger. I had to step back to watch you two together. I had to see if what I was getting into was what I thought it was."

"And?"

"It's that and more," she didn't feel like hiding it so she continued on, "I wouldn't have been in your bedroom the other night if it wasn't."

"Ahh, yes, I guess that would make sense," pausing he reached for her, but stopped, "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Your," he cleared his throat and put his hand down, "tattoos and uh, piercings. They were a bit of a surprise."

"Business related."

"Really?"

"Yes. Maybe I'll tell you about it someday," she was purposefully being coy.

"Well, they're very nice," he muttered and looked away, clearly embarrassed by the admission.

The pigeon cooed again and they were silent for a moment.

"I once told Keiji that it was boring when he teamed up with the Alliance."

He chuckled and picked at his pants, "and here you are, starting this thing with two Alliance soldiers who have Spectre status."

"I know. What'd I get myself into?" she laughed, and tried to trace the path from start to finish in her mind, "Although, when I met Shepard she worked for Cerberus."

"True."

"And I'm coming to find that being in the Alliance isn't as boring as I thought. Plus, I am hoping it'll keep you safe."

"Nothing with Shepard is safe," Kaidan quipped.

"Maybe, but it's better than what happened to Keiji. There was no one there to help. No backup."

She felt his arm around her shoulders.

"No friends."

He was warm and solid. His biotics buzzed happily against her. She thought of becoming closer to him, what it would mean, how it would change her life. Keiji flashed through her thoughts and she pictured what remained of him, in the grey box.

"Kaidan?"

"Yeah?"

"I think Keiji would be happy for me. I think he'd feel better knowing that I have you two. That he'd be supportive. It was always important that we had each other. I don't think he'd have wanted me to continue down that lonely road."

He squeezed her shoulder and she leaned in a bit closer.

"I don't think either of us would have wanted that for you either. I am sorry that you lost him. You deserve a life filled with love and friends."

"And family," she said quietly.

The wind whistled around them and finally the pigeon flapped away. The Citadel turned on its axis and life went on far below.

"Kasumi," he said finally, a low rumble in his chest.

"Yes?"

"I'd love to see you dance sometime."

She pushed herself away from him then and used the railing to help her stand. He looked up at her as she pulled her hood up, hiding her face once more.

Their eyes met and she knew that his request had been genuine, sincere. That might have been what got her the most, his earnest wish to give her back something else she had lost.

"Major," she threw the title out there on the wind, "perhaps you might. Someday."

Turning, she walked away from him down the catwalk feeling uplifted, scared, and for the first time in a long time, hopeful. Then he called out from behind her as she pulled out her omni-tool to activate her cloak.

"And Kasumi?" she turned, "Can you try to keep your cloak off?"

She raised an eyebrow, barely perceptible from under her hood.

"Because I like watching you, too."

A throaty laugh left her and she put her omni-tool away.

"I'll definitely try."


	2. Post Script

His soft and husky tones were soothing but she wasn't paying too much attention anymore. It had been a long day running around the embassies. First it was a long debriefing with the Council, next it was a series of mind-numbing discussions with the Alliance brass. Along the way she had barely eaten and the grueling schedule had been exhausting in a whole new way. When she got home and kicked her shoes off all she could think of was having a meal and maybe a bath. Those plans went out the window when she saw Kaidan reading quietly in the living room.

He just looked up at her when she came in and smiled but didn't stop. It wasn't quite an invitation, but she took it for one. The couch was large and she could have sat anywhere, but instead she pulled her feet up underneath her and pressed her body close to his. He didn't miss a beat and just lifted his arm when she ducked her head. His heart beat with a soothing thump under her ear.

It was then that he stopped reading to himself and started reading aloud.

"Sherlock Holmes," she murmured, happily.

But he didn't quit speaking, he kept right on, narrating for Watson as Holmes solved yet another crime.

She was floating on the edge of sleep, eyelids heavy, her mind already half gone when he paused and spoke.

"We talked today."

"Yeah?" the part of her that was still awake was curious.

"We talked Io, and it was great," he took a deep breath, "There's something there."

"I never doubted for a second," she yawned and pulled herself even closer.

"I think," the hope in his voice was exciting, "it's going to work. I can't wait to see where it takes us."

She felt his lips on her head and he hugged her close.

Then Watson came back and she let him take her into the dark.


End file.
